First carbon negative poultry farm in Northern Ireland wins award

When it comes to environmentally friendly businesses, poultry farming wouldn’t normally be top of the list.

So well done to farmer Tom Forgrave, who believes his Co Antrim enterprise may well be the first carbon negative poultry farm in Northern Ireland.

Now Tom has won a major award for his efforts. He has been crowned the overall winner in the Marks & Spencer Farming for the Future Awards after winning the Innovation Category.

Established eight years ago, the annual awards celebrate producers in the M&S supply chain who stand out and make a difference to their industry.

Tom makes all the business and financial decisions for his family’s high welfare broiler chicken farm in Ballymoney, which supplies chicken to M&S through Moy Park. The family has expanded the business in recent years and also grows cereal crops and Christmas trees.

He was one of the first producers in Northern Ireland to adopt biomass heating across the farm to heat the chicken houses, and has also invested in a wind turbine to fulfil the farm’s electricity requirements.

All the chicken litter powers an anaerobic digester to produce even more green energy, ensuring that the farm is as environmentally friendly as possible.

The judges were impressed by Tom’s methodical approach which has allowed the business to grow in a sustainable manner, placing it in the top 15 per cent of poultry producers in Northern Ireland in terms of profitability.

Tom said: “I feel very honoured to have received this recognition from M&S. Farming is a way of life, especially when it is a family business such as ours, so to have our lifetime of hard work recognised by a retailer such as M&S is really great.

“Our investments in sustainable electricity and heat have worked well for us and we are now looking at ways to improve the efficiency of the farm further – there’s always more we can do and that’s what keeps us motivated.”

Steve McLean, Head of Agriculture and Fisheries at M&S, said: “Not only is Tom committed to doing the right thing on his own farm, he makes time to engage with other farmers and is currently the Chair of the UFU’s Northern Ireland Poultry Committee.

“He is keen to participate in trials to move the industry forward further and we were really impressed by the breadth of initiatives and ideas he is implementing to ensure he remains at the top of his game.”

There were a few other Northern Ireland faces at the finals of the Farming for the Future  awards as well - beef farmer Larry Nugent in the Outstanding Category and vegetable grower William Gilpin in the Young Producer Category.